Student Beep cards with automatic 50 pct fare discount to launch in September

MANILA, August 14 ------ The Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced that starting September, special Beep cards for students will be available on the MRT and LRT lines. This is similar to the dedicated Beep cards for senior citizens and Persons with Disabilities (PWD) which automatically have the 50 percent fare discount programmed into them.

With this new development, DOTr Secretary Vince Dizon said those who are eligible for the discount no longer have to endure long queues to buy single-journey tickets. "Hindi lang yung discount ang importante. Kailangan yung experience nila hindi sila pinapahirapan… Kung ikaw ay estudyante, pupunta ka sa kahit anong station, papakita mo ang iyong ID at right then and there ipiprint ang inyong student beep card," said Dizon. Beep card operator AF Payments Inc. (AFPI) also committed to speed up the application process by deploying printers in every train station. "From 5 days, it will now be shortened to 5 minutes. That’s the average. That’s the target," said AFPI President and CEO Jojo Carpio.

The senior citizen and PWD Beep cards are already valid for a lifetime but student Beep cards need to be reactivated every new school year. While waiting for the special Beep cards, students, as well as senior citizens and PWDs, also no longer have to fill out forms to avail of their 50 percent fare discount when buying single-journey tickets. But now they just need to present their ID to the person manning the ticket booth. This comes after the MRT-3 management spoke to the Commission on Audit (COA) in a bid to simplify the process after many commuters complained about the hassle it caused. "Hinaing ng mga estudyante ay yung pinapa-fill up sila ng napakaraming mga form at dahil doon, mahaba ang pila, nale-late sila sa klase… Hindi na kailangan pa-fillupan ng pangalan, ID number, signature, date. Nire-record na lang ng teller," said Dizon.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com